Government ramps up private housing supply; offers three EC sites on Confirmed List
The Reserve List includes four exclusive housing sites, one commercial location, 3 White locations and one hotel site, which can potentially produce an extra 3,475 private residential units and 199,900 sqm (2.15 million sq ft) gross floor area (GFA) of business space.
The rise in the EC land source in 1H2025 can “go some way to lighten the competition amongst developers in land tenders and guide to moderate EC land cost and prices appropriately”, claims Ismail Gafoor, CEO of PropNex.
It was an unprecedented year for GLS tenders. For the first time, URA did not award the tender for three plots – Marina Gardens Crescent, the Jurong Lake District master developer location, and plots in Media Circle (for long-stay serviced apartment use). The URA refused the bids used because they were too low. These sites are currently listed on the 1H2025 Reserve Checklist.
Along with locations in 2 new real estate districts, most of the sites are near MRT stations, that could entice builders and homebuyers as well, notes Gafoor. “In our view, the most tempting ones are the mixed-use site in Hougang Central (835 units) that will be connected to the Hougang MRT terminal, the Telok Blangah Road plot (740 units) and Dunearn Road (370 units) site in brand-new real estate precincts, and within mins’ walking to the MRT stop, as well as the Lakeside Drive site (575 units) that is right alongside the Lakeside MRT terminal, Jurong Lake Gardens and the Jurong East business hub.”
Private residential costs are expected to see more small growths in 2024, with the cumulative price raise over the first 3 quarters of the year at around 1.6%.
In terms of residential units for sale, it’s in line with the 5,050 units offered in the Confirmed List of 2H2024. However, it’s nearly 60% higher than the regular source on the Confirmed List in each GLS programme from 2021 to 2023.
In view of the rigid challenge for EC locations amongst developers and going up EC land rates, the state has actually ramped up the supply of EC sites, with 3 plots potentially producing 980 units in the Confirmed Checklist of 1H2025. This is a shift from previous GLS programmes since 2018, with only one EC spot offered in each of the semiannual land sales programmes, notes PropNex.
The 3,475 household units on the Reserve Listing of 1H2025 are greater than the 3,090 units in 2H2024. Consisting Of the Reserve Lineup, the general private housing supply of 8,505 units in 1H2025 is on a the same level with the 8,140 units in 2H2024.
Ten plots will be offered under the Confirmed List, comprising nine non commercial sites, three of which are executive condo (EC) plots. The tenth plot is a residential cum commercial area. The 10 sites can yield an approximated 5,030 housing units, featuring the 980 EC units.
The ramp-up of supply from the GLS programs has contributed to the stabilisation of the private household market, as mirrored by the moderation in property rate momentum. Based on the URA private residential property price index, cost growth has actually moderated to 6.8% in 2023 from 10.6% in 2021 and 8.6% in 2022.
Also on the Confirmed Checklist is the non commercial plot in Upper Thomson Road (Parcel A), which saw no bids when its tender closed in June 2024. In the past, the plot was to offer a blend of residential units and long-stay serviced apartments. Of note, the URA has offered even more flexibility this moment; it said that serviced apartment/long-stay serviced house usage would not be mandated for the location but can be enabled based on approval from technical companies, notes PropNex.
Seven new plots are going to be presented in the 1H2025 GLS programme. They include a plot at Lakeside Drive around the Jurong Lake Gardens in Jurong Lake District, Dunearn Road in the new real estate precinct in Bukit Timah Turf City, and Telok Blangah Road on the previous Keppel Golf Course site.
Following the progressing ramp-up of exclusive real estate supply in the GLS programmes over the last 3 years, the inventory of exclusive residential units available up for sale has increased gradually from 16,100 units at the end of 2021 to around 21,000 units as of end-November 2024.
The last time 3 EC plots were launched for sale in an one GLS program was in 2H2014 when EC spots in Sembawang Road/Canberra Link, Anchorvale Crescent, and Woodlands Avenue 12 were launched for tender. In 1H2014, four EC sites (2 in Yishun, one each in Sembawang and Choa Chu Kang) were introduced available for sale via the GLS.
To make sure that there suffices supply to meet housing need and to maintain market stability, the authorities has actually maintained the supply of nonpublic property units by supplying 8,505 units in the upcoming Confirmed List and Reserved List of the 1H2025 GLS Government Land Sales (GLS) program 1H2025.
The location of the former Singapore Indian Fine Arts Society on Dorsett Road, off Rangoon Road, which can yield about 430 units, will also be introduced for sale in 1H2025. A residential and commercial site at Hougang Central, which can generate a brand-new mixed-use project with 835 residence units and over 400,000 sq ft of commercial area, is marketed. It will likely be incorporated with the Hougang MRT Stop on the Northeast Line.
